Driver cited under new bicycle law after striking cyclist on Fahy Bridge

Bicycling safety advocate hit by teen driver, who is to be cited under new statute.

Frank Pavlick was riding his bicycle on Fahy Bridge Monday when he was struck… (Kathleen Cook, TMC )

April 04, 2012|By Tracy Jordan, Of The Morning Call

One of the Lehigh Valley's leading bicycling safety advocates became the region's first victim under a new law meant to protect cyclists from passing vehicles when a car hit him from behind Monday on the Fahy Bridge in Bethlehem.

The law allows motorists to drive over double yellow lines when passing cyclists, but it requires drivers to give four-feet clearance. The law went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday. About 15 hours later, a car operated by a 17-year-old Bethlehem driver drove into Frank Pavlick as he was pedaling north on the Fahy Bridge on S. New Street.

Pavlick, manager of the Coalition for Appropriate Transportation's Bethlehem Bicycle Cooperative, survived the impact with some bruises and a damaged bicycle.

On Dec. 4 in a similar accident on the bridge, 53-year-old Patrick Ytsma, who was well-known locally for his bicycle safety advocacy, was hit by a southbound car and died a few days later

The driver in the fatal accident, a 79-year-old Center Valley woman, pleaded guilty last month to careless driving and agreed to pay a $500 fine and forfeit her license for six months.

The new law has been criticized for being difficult to enforce because of the subjectivity of the four-foot distance, but Bethlehem police Commissioner Jason Schiffer said it can be clearly applied to the accident involving Pavlick.

"If there's an impact between the car and cyclist, we can say without a doubt there was no four-foot room given," Schiffer said. "They're providing more protection for cyclists, and we're certainly going to use that section for this instance."

The offense is a summary traffic violation, but the driver is also being charged with a more serious misdemeanor for allegedly attempting to flee the accident after hitting Pavlick.

A bus driver for the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority maneuvered across the two northbound lanes of the bridge to block the car from exiting the bridge, and the driver of another car pulled up to prevent him from backing up.

Schiffer said he intends to recognize the two drivers at a news conference Thursday for taking quick and decisive action to assist police. Schiffer said he also plans to play a surveillance video that shows the driver hit the bicyclist while trying to drive around the LANTA bus.

Although the state narrowed the northbound lanes of the bridge last fall when it added a temporary walkway after the original walkway was closed for safety reasons, Schiffer and bicycle advocates don't believe the four-lane bridge is inherently unsafe.

Steve Schmitt, head of the Coalition for Appropriate Transportation, said the biggest hurdle is educating drivers about bicycle laws.

"The proper place for me to be was in the middle of the right lane, and from what I get from the police that's captured very carefully on video," Pavlick said. "This guy who hit me is going to get educated. But he also needs to be made into an example. Other people need to know."

Since Ytsma's death in December, Schmitt said his organization has been working with the city on a plan to add signs and road markings to the bridge to remind motorists to share the road.

Schmitt said in both accidents the bicycle riders were riding in the traffic lane as the law allows, but the motorists apparently did not see them or were driving too fast to stop.

"This is the second Lehigh Valley expert cyclist hit from behind," Schmitt said. "What we need to do is keep motorists from pretending that bridge is a NASCAR raceway."